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No, I don't find it racist at all. It's a poorly made ad that just shows a man in africa being chased by a rhino who is also in africa. So no, I don't think it's really racist at all honestly.
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Are you sure that it's meant for Africans or Aborigines? They are also other tribes thorughout the world with similar characteristics.
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I don't think they made it intending to be racist, but they probably should have known better. I've seen worse ads in the past. But, I dunno, myspace is pretty trashy in general, I dunno why the ads would be any different.
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wow, some people need a serious lesson in media history. i'm surprised how many people didn't even see what the user was referencing in her original post. since stereotypes do mimic natural behavior, there is no doubt that there would be people in real life that exhibit similar behavior. but that doesn't change the fact that it is still an offensive stereotype, and one that was meant to portray a group of people in a negative way. (a similar analogy can be towards native american stereotypical images. this is another instance where tribal activity was depicted in a negative way consistently in the american media) the fact of the matter is, there was a long time where images similar to the one shown in the original post were depicted in order to imply that african americans were descended from a primitive and ignorant culture. no, not everyone would find this offensive, but people should really be more sensitive.
for those that really don't get what the user was talking about, here are a few cartoons that have been labeled offensive for the african stereotype the user was referencing: jungle jitters (a cartoon that was censored for its politically incorrect images, and focuses exclusively on the stereotype the original user was referencing): http://youtube.com/watch?v=xt---f83q7g more clips of cartoons that have been viewed as racist or offensive. the tribal stereotype that is being referenced is shown periodically in this clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gH4ivOyO0PQ even more clips that have been viewed as offensive. (again, the stereotype being referenced is also used): http://youtube.com/watch?v=7LMrdcs4ucc |
Yes it is racist, but that is the media.. it portrays stereotypical scenes to the mass to humor them. Just like there are jokes about people with certain different hair colors and skin types and ethnicity. I don't think you should get too offended though, this happens way to common every part of the world, and even more in some places then in others.
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Yeah, that's pretty messed up, but all those things are annoying no matter what their content. I can't understand why people put those stupid fake spam things on the internet.
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well that is weird though i think it looks pretty funny i think that some people could be affended i personally think thats not right as well but still is pretty comical
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I don't find that racist. I mean, would the ad not look weird if it were a black guy dressed in street clothes or something?
I think people are just too sensitive, really. Not to offend anyone here, but just because the ad displays a stereotype doesn't mean that it's racist. It's silly to think that the ad was intentionally trying to be racist... |
After taking courses in college in sociology and anthropology, I became more aware of how offensive things like these depictions really are.
As a child, I thought little about sports teams with Native Americans as mascots. One of my rival schools had Geronimo as theirs. While most people would say, oh, they're just honoring and giving attention to Natives...in reality, they're stereotypically portraying them in a negative light. Honestly, how much do you really know about Native Americans beyond the primitive ideas you've seen from TV shows and movies? The thing is, these images are everywhere and most don't even notice them. Some sports teams, like the University of Illinois, had their mascot dressed in a headdress and made-up outfit prancing around to the sound of drums. Native Americans found this offensive, because the headdress is a religious icon worn by respected members of their communities. The dances were viewed as a comical mimic of something important to them. Many Native Americans actually held peaceful rallies to oust these degrading images...and what happened? They were mocked and treated violently. The fans were tearing up the very people they were supposedly trying to "honor." Really, I'm a little disheartened reading some of the comments. Just because people poke fun of your culture/ethnicity too, it's absolutely okay to degrade another? Eye for an eye? Why do we have to hold onto such insensitivities? :( Must we just brush them aside and say, meh, whatever? I'd like to think we'd stand up and discourage the media and such for propagating these conceptions. Guess I'm just an idealist. >_<; I hope people read your post, memarcus. ^^ |
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I find it especially horrible because of the merchandising. There are rolls of Illini toilet paper at the University store. |
Technically it is more stereotypical than racist, but as a society we are so saturated with these stereotypes that we either don't notice it or care about the racism in it anymore. And the creators of the ad probably would say "it's a joke, not to be taken seriously" or something like that.
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Stop taking things to seriously. I'm a civil rights activist, but I don't see everything as "everyone should be treated with love and respect", because, honestly, that's never going to happen.
I mean, yes, I understand that stereotypes can be harmful. If people actually believe the stereotypes were truly accurate. (Which, admittedly, a lot of people do.) Stereotypes in media are usually used for humor. Like, for example, the examples memarcus showed, I watched them and YES, it is stereotypical and politically incorrect, but is the scene not really racist. It is NOT saying all blacks are tribal people, but I mean, in Africa there is the largest population of modern tribes. I hate "politically incorrect", being PC will not "cure racism", they'll only make it worse. Because either people will hate it and do things just because they believe that (for example) all black people are going to cry racism no matter what they do and so they'd rather do something worse then try to live by the rules, or they'll be so afraid to say something bad about someone because they're black (etc.) that they won't say anything (even if it's true?). Is that what you want? Didn't think so. The reason why racism is still so prevalent isn't because people are still making fun of black, Asians, etc. It's because people are still making it a problem. For example. What Jaded Geisha said was racist. Why? Because it was directed towards a race. White. In Japan, for example, if you are not Japanese, you will not be trusted, looked down on and generally thought an idiot by the general masses even if you had lived there your whole life. If you're American (more than not, white American), you will be thought of as fat, lazy and stupid. Why is it that if it's any other race it's racism? Because whites were never oppressed? Do people really believe this? In ancient times, anybody who was not strong enough or did not have the best technology were made into slaves. It would have nothing to do with race. Yes, race became a factor in the Americas, because most of the captured people were African. Not because they were somehow more inferior, but because Africans, were, let's face it, not really able to defend their selves against guns and the like. It later became thought that they were slaves because they were lesser people, etc., etc., because it was the "land of the free" and they needed and excuse, and, let's face it, the best excuse as to why someone is a slave is they are not on the same level of humanity as you are. Racism is because if people try to ignore racism and really treat everyone equal, they can have "Racism" cried on them. For example, when I was in 8th grade, I had a teacher, Mrs. Harris, and she was Black. She was racist and sexist and in general a horrible teacher. No matter how hard you worked, the grades would go like this: Black girls, white girls, black guys, white guys. She would constantly call the kids idiots, retarded, and other demeaning things, and I even tried to report her because she had personally offended me and honestly, if it were any other teacher, she would have been written up, or I would have been switched, at the very least. But not her. WHY? Because she had worked at out rival school and been fired for the same reasons and she had sued saying it was because of racism. So when I tried to report her for being down right abusive, nothing was done. My school counselor even said that nothing could be done. Now, tell me how that's fair. That's why I think the whole "OMG! It's racist because of 'blah, blah, blah'" is stupid. Racism isn't in everything that isn't directed towards whites in a bad way. It just isn't. It's stupidity. It's trying to gain an advantage because a skin color. My favourite quote about how stupid it's become is from Insane Clown Posse's "Everybody Rize" Quote:
If don't get a job because you're not (x) and most of the employees are (y), that's racism, even if you switch (x) and (y), or if (x) is white, or (x) is black. So why don't we try to get over what really isn't a problem and instead focus on the real problems within racism? Then things will actually get solved. If everyone focuses on those little silly things that aren't really racist, but people are just too sensitive to the whole being politically correct "ideal" that you will never really get rid of racism because you will see it everywhere. |
I find it racist as well. However there is nothing we can really do about it. They needed something to make there ad about.
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Stereotypical? Yes. Racist? I really don't think so. It's a cartoon depiction of an African tribesman, and it's pretty accurate. Some African tribes wear a skirt of some sort (be it grass woven or cloth) and have unique piercings (even bones through their noses). There's nothing racist about depicting that in a cartoon. Although if I remember right rhino stampedes kill a lot of people in Africa every year so that part of it is far from funny.
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How do you know that man is even an African? You're using a racial stereotype to draw assumptions, so.. heh, go figure. :?
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Hmm I wouldn't say you're crazy. I've seen the ad a few times myself and I just ignore it. It's just some spam on myspace. Nothing to totally freak out about, you know? But I understand how you feel. They shouldn't make ads like that.
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If you look at most ads you could find something offensive about them, unfortunatly that is a part of life and we all just have to try to not be the person who is the offender.
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@ torikat and serafim_azriel - i thank you for your comments, and as a general comment towards the impact of offensive imagery, i would also like to add that when an image is used to portray stereotypical and offensive imagery, then in certain instances it can be seen as promoting a racist mentality, and in other instances directly used to promote actions of hatred or violence towards minority communities.
in regards to further information as to why this image can be viewed as so offensive, there was an image in a pro-slavery advertisement during the civil war (and unfortunately i cannot find it because it was in a history book that i owned a long time ago) that portrayed a very similar image to the cartoon drawing in the original post, although this image was not portrayed in a cartoon way, but rather in a more realistic artistic format. in this image, there was an african man standing with a spear and a bone in his nose in the middle of a jungle. this image was meant to be a realistic depiction of a typical african. directly next to this image was a well dressed white family at a plantation and their black slave dressed in a nice suit. in this advertisement, the caption read that white people should not be ashamed of slavery but rather embrace it because white people were obviously saving black people from a primitive and inferior culture, and reforming african lives for the better by guiding them towards a more "civilized" european/american lifestyle. this mentality that white people were doing black people a favor by promoting slavery and black people should be grateful for the culture being enforced upon them was an argument that was used for the promotion of slavery during the time of succession/civil war. the image was meant to promote this mentality by showing what was supposed to be viewed as a primitive, inferior african compared next to a well-dressed african slave in a white owned plantation. similar images were not only used to provide justification for slavery, but were also used in other hate filled propaganda that were used to promote actions of violence and degradation towards black people. the concept behind this image is also where the term "jungle bunny" comes from, a degrading term used to describe black people. the fact of the matter is, images like these were extensively used to dehumanize the black community. now, towards serafim_azriel's comments, i think that everybody, regardless of background, understands the different concepts behind racism, how the desire to be sensitive can sometimes lead to unsubstantiated allegations, and that no culture can be completely exempt from personally experiencing some form of discrimination. however, given my background, as a jewish individual, members of my family witnessed first hand during the holocaust how images based on hate filled propaganda were used in order to promote feelings of hatred and violence towards the jewish community. so, sometimes images can be taken seriously, be viewed as very powerful, and have a very devastating impact. now, given a modern context, and the fact this particular image is so silly and cartoonish, this image would most likely not be considered as offensive as the examples used earlier in this post, and it really is difficult to compare this image to the far more serious examples i used earlier in this post. but the fact of the matter is, similar images to the one originally posted were used in a negative manner and have a very offensive history behind it. once again, when people create images such as these, they really should be far more sensitive and aware of the history behind images such as these, or at the very least take responsibility for the reaction that might result from an image of this nature. an image in itself may not be necessarily considered racist, however, when an image portrays similarities to other offensive imagery that was used to promote degradation, dehumanization, and even violence, then an image can be viewed as unacceptable. and even though blocking one image will not cure racism entirely, it does show that people desire, out of simple human decency, to treat other cultures, identities, and communities with respect. it is also out of simple human nature to try to identify with others, and treat others with mutual respect. this type of behavior should be promoted as a means to treating others better, and there's no proof that treating others with respect causes others to turn to hatred. if anything, it promotes awareness, education, and cultural understanding. essentially, the more accurate information people have on different cultures, the less chance there is for false or inaccurate impressions on other communities. since the media can be viewed as an informative tool, the media should already be aware of this, as well as keep this in mind when providing either accurate or false imagery to the general public. |
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Memarcus, you are my new hero!
I'm not very eloquent and I am prone to becoming rather over emotional over issues which makes my point become even more clouded... And the fact that I am prone to bitchy outbursts when I feel misunderstood or attacked makes things even worse. I am now a bit ashamed of my "Pampered white kids" remark it was an inapropriate reaction to the fact that I felt that lots of you didn't quite get my point and at the time I construed that as you all being insensitive when in actuality it was because you were ignorant of the history of this sort of stereotypical imagery. Thanks to Memarcus' very informative post I hope you all will realize why this image is so detrimental. Oh and I would like to adress all of you who's arguement is that "Well aren't there still african natives who have bones through their noses?" Yes indeed there are... but wouldn't you say that that ad is portraying them in a negitive light? I mean lets put the over sized red lips and the fact that this is an american ad that was not intended for veiwing by african tribes men aside and just focus on the portrayal of an african native... Wouldn't you say that that ad is making it look as if african natives are morons? That while they live their entire lives in the african savanah they are still stupid enough to get to close to and provoke a wild rhino? |
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Because that seems to be your only real arguing point anymore... The fact that I'm "Racist" FYI I'm argentinian cherokee but mostly I'm IRISH! White as the god damn snow honey... And when I said white I meant it more in the whitebread sense... Not the actual skin color... |
Memarcus If you don't mind I would like to quote your post on the first page... Is it all right?
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